Photo gallery: Samsung Z540Samsung's brilliantly designed Z540 is one of a bevy of slim flip phones to hit the market, capitalising on the massive success of Motorola's RAZR V3. The Z540 measures 9 cm by 5 cm by 2 cm and closely resembles the Motorola offering. Being both slim and wide, it fits easily into a pocket, luggage or handbag. In fact, the Z540 is currently the slimmest 3G phone on the market.
The style-conscious will appreciate the jet black colour palette with matching buttons and a pale blue backlight. The design is understated and will look as comfortable in a corporate boardroom on a Tuesday morning as at a nightclub on Friday night.
Given that Samsung has managed to nail the form factor, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the company has done a similarly good job with the features and performance.
One of the criticisms of ultra-small phones is that they are relatively difficult to talk on. The clamshell design allows the phone to resemble a full-size handset when open, and positions the earpiece and microphone perfectly for conversation.
What's more, the width of the phone has allowed Samsung to spec near full-sized buttons, which makes it easy to enter SMS text and dial numbers. A bright 2.3-inch 262,000- colour screen dominates the top half of the clamshell, and the refresh rate is fast enough to display video without ghosting or shadowing.
There's also a 128 x 128 pixel colour screen on the outside of the phone, which displays battery life, signal strength, date and caller information. It's particularly handy if you're looking to screen calls during a meeting as you can see who's calling without opening the phone.
Samsung has paid close attention to multimedia capabilities and has included shortcut keys to both the camera and MP3 player. The camera button is located on the side of the unit, and must be held down for a couple of seconds before launching the image capture application. While this somewhat reduces the ability to take a quick snapshot, it also means that you don't accidentally turn the camera on in your pocket. Similarly, holding the play key on the front of the unit will launch the MP3 player, and you don't even have to open the lid. Bluetooth and USB connectivity are supplied by default, but there is no infrared.
In addition to the 1.3 megapixel camera on the outside face, the Z540 also includes a VGA resolution (640 by 480 pixels) censor on the inside to enable video conversations. The phone is stable and responsive during operation, and Samsung claims a battery life of 2.5 hours (talk time) and 200 hours on standby, which is a little light-on when compared with some competitors.
All up, the slim form factor, zippy performance, large buttons and clear screen help make the Z540 a winner for those looking for a stylish phone for business or personal use. It may not offer all the bells and whistles of a smartphone, but the understated appearance and great ergonomics are hard to go past.
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